In an email to Ben, Tim Pawlenty adviser Phil Musser pushes back on The Washington Post's report that a number of Pawlenty's top aides are working for little or no pay:

We all are consultants, not volunteers, and work for low rates because we wanted to set an example for others. We also believe strongly in Tim Pawlenty, and we wanted to do our part to minimize overhead as the campaign got going. This approach was agreed to and has been in place since the inception of the campaign and has not changed at all.

We also have all maxed out personally to the campaign.

The Post story TOTALLY missed it.

That may be a different model than other campaigns, but I have found donors, teammates, and supporters appreciate that we are putting OUR money where our mouth is, and nobody wonders where our loyalties lie. It makes for a very positive team environment and I recommend it to others.

The aides covered in the report are Musser, Jon Lerner, Sara Taylor Fagen, Terry Nelson and Brian Hook. The Post story said those aides "are earning in the range of zero to $1,000 a month, plus reimbursements for expenses," and called that a sign of weakness on the fundraising front.